What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.

Christopher Hitchens (1949 - 2011) was an Anglo-American author and journalist. His books made him a prominent public intellectual and a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits. He was a columnist and literary critic at Vanity Fair, Slate, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry and a variety of other media outlets. He was named one of the world's "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect.

Low points from this year's dishonest, vacuous campaign season.

By Christopher Hitchens

Future chroniclers of the low, dishonest, vacuous campaign of 2010—not only not a single funny placard at the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbertrallybut not a singleseriousone, either, plus the clapped-out crooner andfatwagroupieYusuf Islamimpersonating a potted plant—will certainly puzzle over President Barack Obama's almost weird refusal to stick up for himself in the middle of his first term.Read More (Slate)